By Rick Burke, Navy Office of Community Outreach Public Affairs
CHICAGO
– The 2017 Department of Defense Warrior Games kicked off June 30th with
competitions over the weekend in shooting, sitting volleyball, wheelchair
basketball, and track.
Navy Petty
Officer 1st Class Shane Gilley, a Victoria, Minnesota native, is a multisport
athlete competing in shooting, swimming, track and field, sitting volleyball,
and wheelchair basketball.
Gilley and the rest of “Team Navy” join more than 250 seriously wounded, ill and injured service members and veterans at the Department of Defense Warrior Games.
Team Navy’s sitting volleyball team and the basketball team have not lost a game in this year's competition and both are headed to the medal round on July 7.
The
swimming event is scheduled on July 8, the last day of competition at the
University of Illinois at Chicago.
“Navy
athletes are competing against competitors from the Army, Marine Corps, Air
Force, Special Operations Command, Australian Defense Force and the United
Kingdom Armed Forces in cycling, track and field, shooting, swimming, archery,
sitting volleyball and wheelchair basketball.
The Navy honors the sacrifices of
wounded warriors by providing them top-notch non-medical support through Navy
Wounded Warrior (NWW) – Safe Harbor. All enrollees in NWW are encouraged to
make athletics a key component of their recovery efforts. By promoting wounded
warrior participation in competitions like the Warrior Games, NWW helps
enrollees heal through adaptive sports.
These games provide an opportunity
for athletes to grow physically, mentally and spiritually from the
sportsmanship and camaraderie gained by representing their respective service
teams in a friendly and spirited competition. It is an opportunity for athletes
to showcase their enduring warrior spirit in the presence of their families and
grateful nation.
- - Lt. Jesus
Uranga, Team Navy Public Affairs
For more information about the 2017
DoD Warrior Games, please visit http://www.dodwarriorgames.com/.